Is Asian Plastic Surgery Safe For Tourists?

Asian cosmetic surgery is a less expensive alternative for citizens of the Western world. Medical tourism is a burgeoning industry that generates over 13 billions dollars a year worldwide. According to some experts that figure is inaccurate since many operations go unreported and undocumented. With the advent of globalization and wild fluctuations of world currencies people have begun to seek solutions that would be considered unorthodox 20 years ago. In East and Southeast Asian countries, surgeons are able to provide the same level of surgical skill that is available in the Western nations for asian plastic surgery. Due to the buying power of the dollar and the pound, American and British citizens have begun to seek the services of doctors in other countries. Operations that would not be affordable in their own nation are surprisingly inexpensive in many of the Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines. At such a savings, many of the medical tourists elect to undergo more than one operation. In some cases, patients are encouraged to do so despite the fact that it may prove a considerable health risk. What many people fail to realize is that Asian plastic surgery is a bona fide medical operation with all of the accompanying risks and hazards that occur anytime one goes under the knife. To ignore this point is to put one's life at peril. In the quest to obtain the idealized image of beauty, these warnings often fall on deaf ears. Like the call of the Sirens, this alluring factor can deliver an untimely death.

While the skills of these doctors rival their contemporaries they do not have the same sophisticated governing bodies that preside over the medical communities of the first-world nations. Operations that are deemed illegal in America and the UK can be performed in Asia. In one documented case, an experimental Asian eye surgery was performed on a patient who was incorrectly diagnosed and it resulted in permanent blindness in the affected eye. Medical associations exist to provide safety to patients and guidance to surgeons. Many doctors who work in these countriesand perform asian plastic surgery do so because the regulations are less stringent and liability judgments due to malpractice are all but nonexistent. Surgeons who have lost their license to practice in their native country set up shop in Asia for this reason. Because of the savings, people are willing to take these risks and the deaths associated with them cannot be accurately tabulated due to the fact that reporting them to the authorities can be bad for business.

Like Asia's other inexpensive goods and services, the cosmetic surgery tourism industry is growing fast and is starting to make a noticeable contribution to many of the Asian economies. Most Western cosmetic surgeons compete based on quality, but a different marketing strategy is taken with the surgeons who are Asian. Nose surgery is a complex and expensive surgery so the doctors from Thailand are not the least bit reluctant to talk about their low prices. They claim the same level of skill and safety that you would expect in the United States but at prices that no American surgeon could compete with. More and more Westerners have sought these services and this seems to be a trend that will continue unabated despite warnings from the American Medical Association.

With Asian plastic surgery comes a clash of cultures for Europeans and Americans as there are differences in what Asians as a whole would consider to be attractive physical traits. In parts of Asia, large nostrils are considered an attractive feature. Westerners who have undergone rhinoplasty are shocked to discover that their nostrils were enlarged. These are small cultural differences that cannot be completely anticipated. Miscommunication and oversight are just some of the common complications that hardly make up for the money saved considering that a second surgery has to be scheduled to correct the problem. For instance, Asian eye lid surgery could result in broad number of misinterpretations; each stemming from what the surgeon thinks the eyelid should look like. In such a case, a European could leave the clinic looking slightly Asian. These are by no means the only instances where the surgical outcome could be awkward to say the least.

The Association of Asian Plastic Surgeons have presented a new body of standards that take into account the patients from other countries and procedures including the asian plastic surgery. Efforts like these are aimed at reducing the number of botched surgeries that may otherwise reduce medical tourism. By taking a proactive approach, they can help ensure that the reputation of an Asian plastic surgeon i and the asian plastic surgery procedures will denote a doctor who is an expert at performing highly specialized cosmetic surgery procedures that are tailored not only to Asians but all nationalities regardless of genetics, ethnicity, race or country. If such a goal can be achieved then Asia will be known not only for their low prices but for their expertise as well in asian plastic surgery.